


Please, Don't Leave

by SakumiYukime



Series: Klangst Week 2018 [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Create/Ruin, Hurt/Comfort, Insecure Lance (Voltron), Klangst Week 2018, M/M, Mutual Pining, Regret, Self-Doubt, Self-Worth Issues, replacement
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-03-30
Packaged: 2019-04-14 19:08:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14142636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SakumiYukime/pseuds/SakumiYukime
Summary: After a particularly bad mission, Team Voltron takes a heavy blow. Some of their members are injured, being the blue paladin the one in the worst condition.With another important operation around the corner, Shiro asks Keith to pilot the Red lion while Lance recovers - The universeneedsVoltron after all.When Lance wakes up, Keith knows it's time to leave.





	Please, Don't Leave

Keith learns Lance is awake from Pidge.

She passes by him in a hallway, while on her way to the medical bay where the pods are located.

“He’s awake!” The statement is simple, yet Keith has to fight the urge to physically recoil. Her voice rings in his ears with excitement and relief, unaware of his internal struggles. Keith smiles back at the green paladin, easily masking his emotions.

He doesn’t answer.

He doesn’t follow her either.

Keith takes a deep sigh, eagerly expelling the air out of his lungs. His body doesn’t make an effort to move from where he is standing in the middle of the hallway.

His mind is racing, reminding him of the promise he had made.

A promise, he now felt like he was breaking.

Just the thought of heading back to the pods and see Lance was a bit too much. Keith wasn’t ready to face him after coming back to the team.

Especially after what he’d told him. 

Lance had opened up to him, willingly placing his insecurities on display for Keith to see and criticize. Instead, he opted to smile and tell him not to worry about it.

And now, he had chosen to betray his trust and do exactly what he had promised not to -  _Take his place._

He sighs again, mumbling out a soft, “It’s for the mission,” that even he can’t believe in anymore.

But it was. It really was for the mission.

After what had happened to the team, all paladins were exhausted or injured. Lance was the only one that had to be placed in a pod, though. His injuries were bad, and he was brought back unconscious according to Hunk.

When Keith had asked Shiro what happened he efficiently turned the conversation around in the blink of an eye. The black haired teen decided not to ask again. Shiro would talk to him if he needed - when he was ready to.

In the end, the team was running one element short, and with an important mission coming up, they needed _Voltron_.

Keith knew the operation was important - It was a big mission that even Kolivan had mentioned at the blade of Marmora headquarters a couple of times. He couldn’t bring himself to turn his back on the universe and refuse to go back. He couldn’t refuse to pilot the red lion.

So he did what Shiro asked, temporarily returning while Lance was recovering.

It felt weird to be back. Strange to form Voltron without Lance.

And maybe strange wasn’t the right word.

And maybe Keith knew exactly the right word.

_Wrong._

It felt _wrong_ to form Voltron without him.

The teen sighed, purple eyes gazing around the cold empty hallway. The silence was suffocating, engulfing him like a mantle he could not remove. He finally moved, heading towards his room and away from the medical bay.

_It was time to leave again._

 

* * *

 

As soon as he opened his eyes, Lance knew exactly where he was and what had happened.

Of course, that didn’t stop him from pretending to still have his memories all over the place and avoid the inevitable conversation.

With Shiro.

And seriously, right now, Lance wasn’t feeling up to that or up to anything else that didn’t involve him, laying on his bed, and finally getting a decent night of rest.

No one found unusual when he declared to be super tired, informing them that he was planning to head back to his room and rest. Hunk offered to bring a tray of food to his room. Lance thanked with a sincere smile on his lips, but refused.

He was just, really, really tired.

And _that_ wasn’t a lie.

The blue paladin made his way through the hallways of the castle ship, directly heading towards his room. His body felt like shit, his muscles sore like he had been getting his butt kicked in the training deck for at least 3 days non stop. Not to mention his head. It hurt like there was no tomorrow, and he could barely see anything but blurs.

Good thing he had walked through those hallways so many times he pretty much could cross them with both his eyes closed.

By the time he arrived at his room, Lance was exhausted. He stayed still in front of the automatic doors, waiting for them to open so he could fall into the bed and lay there for the next millennia.

Instead, Lance almost lets out a very _masculine_ scream when he, not only doesn’t find his room empty, but sees his bed occupied.

“Keith?” His voice comes out a bit higher than he would have liked it to. He observes as the other boy’s eyes grow wide, and how he raises his head suddenly, gazing at him intensely. “You’re back?” Now, his voice barely sounds above a whisper. Keith’s eyebrows shoot up, just before he looks away. _Guilty_.

It doesn't take long for it to click on his head. Keith's sad smile definitely helps, "You're going to leave again, aren't you?"

There’s a soft taste of accusation on his tone. Keith notices it too if the way he seems to shrink in his skin counts as evidence.

Silence prevails, both boys remaining quiet as they look or avoid each other. Somehow, Keith manages to find the courage he had been lacking.

“I have to go back…” The words are simple, and they feel empty. Keith isn’t exactly sure how to elaborate. He isn't sure how to say what he really wants to say.

“No you don’t.” It’s the blue paladin’s come back. His words are sharp, but this time, they don’t bear any accusation. “You’re our red paladin. And we need you.”

“Not anymore…”

He mumbles the words, but the look on Lance’s face says he heard him loud and clear. Keith wonders for a silent moment if Lance knows why he is ‘back’. “You’re Red’s pilot now.”

The black haired teen sees how blue eyes gaze at him suspiciously. Keith tries not to flatter, “It suits you.”

Lance had always been more worthy to be a paladin than him. In fact, all the others had it in them.

They were trusting and caring, kind and forgiving.

Keith wasn’t like them. Maybe it was because he was galra, maybe it was just the way he had grown up. He fitted in the blades a lot better than he would ever care to admit, where his lonesome nature tended to be an advantage.

In Voltron, it was always for the team.

He knows lone wolfs can’t be a team player. He knows Pidge was right.

He knows he has to step away, so they can shine in the spotlight.

Lance, Shiro, Allura, Pidge and Hunk.

All of them had something in them that he doesn’t. Something good, that makes them strong, and much better paladins than he could ever hope to be.

“Thanks” The bitterness in Lance’s voice calls him back to the room.

“I mean it!” Keith doesn’t know why he is so eager to validate his own point. Why he suddenly wants to make sure Lance understands how much he is worth - worthy. “You’re- really suited to be the red paladin.” Keith doesn’t really notice the way the ocean blue eyes look at him. Confused, yes. Hopeful, maybe. Hurt, definitely. “I don’t mean to- It’s just…” Keith makes an effort to look him in the eye, efficiently drowning in the ocean blue in front of him, “You gave me pretty good advice, while I was piloting black.”  

Lance's eyes grow wide like he had suddenly realized something very important that he had been missing. He knows how close Keith and Shiro are, but somehow, he can’t stop himself, “Yeah… Shiro doesn’t seem to agree with that.”

His words come out as hollow as he feels, and he doesn’t miss the way Keith's eyes look at him, filled with surprise.

“Shiro knows perfectly well what you're capable off, and he trusts your ability. Shiro knows you’re filled with great potential.” The black haired boy fires back, with a small reassuring smile on his lips. It’s impressing how easy it was for him to immediately defend Shiro.

“You've really been gone for a while.” Even he can feel the bitterness in his mouth.

He doesn’t mean it. He really didn’t mean it like that, but the way Keith recoils makes it obvious that he took it as an accusation. Maybe it was one. Lance isn’t sure anymore.

“Look, I know Shiro has a lot to deal with. We all have. But, lately? He’s been very difficult to deal with.” Keith chooses to remain quiet, suspiciously eyeing the boy in front of him. “I don't know… Sometimes, it feels like he is a completely different person.”

Keith can’t help but stare at Lance.

He looks _tired._ Not just the ‘left the pods recently’ tired, but the exhaustion that only comes with many sleepless nights. He wonders if Lance has been pushing himself too hard. If that has anything to do with the incident that forced him to be placed in a pod.

Keith wonders if it was Shiro’s fault. If Lance has tried to talk to him, advice him. He wonders if Shiro ignored him.

After all, Lance would always go to big lengths to protect everyone on the team whenever Keith made a rash decision that jeopardized them all.

He doesn’t have the guts to ask him what happened.

So he wonders, _what happened while he was away_.

Suddenly he isn’t sure if it was a good idea to throw his new responsibility back to Shiro as soon as he returned. Maybe he had forced him into a position he wasn’t ready to retake yet. Maybe he was selfish to force Lance to take his burden.

Keith wonders, if he _ruined everything when he left_.

“Keith?”

Lance’s voice is soft, and he wonders when the other boy had gotten so close to him. Keith stares at his eyes, wondering if he was responsible for taking away their light.

 _He was._  He knew he was.

Keith wanted to apologize, go back, and make things right, but-

“You should rest… You must be exhausted.” His voice is sharp, and he rushes to leave. Lance doesn’t move. He doesn’t even turn to look at him as Keith passes by his side.

When Keith reaches the door, he hears the familiar sound of it opening.

There’s also a voice.

“Don’t leave.”

The words were mumbled, but he heard them loud and clear.

“Please, don’t leave again.” Lance isn’t sure if Keith heard his words. Lance isn’t even sure what he means.

Does he want Keith to stay with him for that night? Does he want Keith to leave the blades and return to the team? He isn’t sure.

He doesn’t know.

Lance hears the doors close again.

He can see Keith doesn’t make an effort to move.

To him, or away.

“Ok. I’ll stay.”

 

But he doesn’t know for how long.


End file.
